Reflections On A Wonderful Life
by QuirkyChameleon
Summary: A short fanfic on where Jess ponders the day of the accident, and the aftermath. Leslie lives in all my fanfics becauseI can't imagine her dead without feeling pain. My first so be nice. R&R! Kudos!


Jess Aarons sat calmly next to his sleeping wife Leslie, watching a rather boring news program. He stared at it, not really watching it, but thinking deeply.

Jess often liked to reflect on his life through the years when there was a night he and Leslie were just relaxing. This gave him the sudden impulse to look down at her.

His years with Leslie had been spectacular. He loved her so much and she was absolutely perfect for him.

And to think he almost couldn't have had this...

_Jess stared out the window at Leslie's house. Why shouldn't she go too?_

_"Forget something?" said Ms. Edmunds._

_At first, Jess thought_ _no, but the feeling of coming danger to Leslie was too strong._

_"Yeah," he said, the words tumbling out before he could stop them. "Yeah, I'll be right back."_

_Jess got out of the car, but now he didn't know where to go._

_Then he heard a sound that would haunt him for the rest of his life._

_A snap, a scream, a splash._

_Then silence._

_Jess knew whose scream this was, and he ran with all his strength toward Terabithia._

_"LESLIE!" he yelled._

_Something was horribly wrong. Then Jess saw that the lake water was turning..._

_Red._

_Without thinking twice, Jess threw himself into the lake._

_It was cold, dark, and difficult to see, but that didn't matter at all to him. _

_"Come on," he thought. "Where are you?"_

_Jess finally found her under the water and pulled her up. He got her onto the grass and crawled toward her limp form. _No, no, _he thought. _No, God, please.

_Leslie's skin was very pale and she made no sound. Her visage had suddenly been covered in scratches, cuts, bruises, and blood. It was a horrible sight._

_"Leslie? Leslie, wake up!"_

_At first, he thought she was dead, but her chest still moved. She let out a thin wail._

"Jess. _Jess._ JESS!"

Jess' eyes sprang open to see Leslie staring into his face.

"Jess, calm down. You were yelling and you woke me up."

Jess saw that Leslie had a small washcloth and he realized that she had been wiping his face free of the cold sweat he had broken out in for however long he'd been asleep.

"I'm sorry," said Jess as Leslie mopped his face off with a look of concern. "It's okay, sweetie. Go back to sleep."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. You need your rest." Leslie was clutching her stomach as she said this and Jess didn't want to exhaust her.

As Leslie cuddled back against Jess, he was transferred back into thought.

Leslie had been unconscious for almost four days before waking up.

Jess remembered that day too.

_Leslie suddenly stirred and opened her eyes._

_"Hey," said Jess quietly._

_She blinked at him as he put a hand on hers._

_"Jess," she said. "That...you?"_

_"Yeah," said Jess. "How are you?"_

_"Everything hurts. Where am I?"_

_"Children's Hospital," muttered Jess. "You've been out for nearly four days. They were beginning to think you'd never wake up."_

_"What happened to me?"_

_"You fell," said Jess, his voice catching in his throat. "The rope broke and you fell. I got you out of the lake just in time, they said. And I stayed with you the whole time."_

_"Really?" said Leslie. At first, she looked horrified. Then her face curved into that beautiful Leslie smile that Jess loved with all his heart to see._

_And without warning, Jess' head dropped onto his chest and he started crying._

_"Jess, what's wrong?" said Leslie, pressing his head to her chest and running her fingers through his hair._

_"Ithoughtyouweredead," Jess choked, the words tumbling out. _

_"But I'm okay," said Leslie. "Just beat up."_

_She lifted his chin and looked into his eyes._

_"Be strong, my king. You can't cry over something you never lost."_

_Jess nodded, wiping his eyes._

_"Okay, well, I'm gonna go and tell the doctors you're okay and healthy again, and your parents too. I'll come in and check on you in a bit."_

_Jess clasped her hand and walked out, but not before hearing Leslie's reply:_

_"Thank you for saving my life."_

Jess smiled. He would always remember that.

Leslie suddenly awoke next to Jess.

"I can't get back to sleep now!" she said.

"Is it because of me or this one?" said Jess, putting his hand on her swollen stomach.

Leslie smiled and put her hand on his. "Well, maybe. She's been getting restless."

Jess grinned as he felt the child stir inside her.

"You know," he said. "I've just been thinking about how empty my life would be without you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," said Jess, momentarily taken by his wife's beauty as he looked down into her blue-green eyes. "And I'm glad you're my wife."

Leslie smiled sleepily. "Me too."

And they kissed each other, never to be separated.

FIN


End file.
